Illness
by SalamandaLove
Summary: When Raven is plagued by a mysterious illness, Rogue (As always ) is there for her while Natsu, Gray, Erza and the others try and see if they can find the cause of it. However they'd better move fast, this 'illness' seems to be effecting Dragon Slayers, time is slowly running out for Raven as she fights the sickness with all shes got. Rated T for language...
1. Chapter 1

Raven sighed as she walked slowly through the dark streets. She'd just left Fairy Tail, not being able to take Natsu and Gray's stupid fights any longer that day. A water droplet fell and landed on her nose, Raven frowned, wiped the water of her nose and looked up. Dark grey clouds where forming quickly, threating to spill their contents onto Mongolia.

"Just my luck to be caught in the rain" Raven hissed as another couple of droplets fell from the ever darkening sky.

It wasn't long before the ground was slick with rain water, the heavens had opened and Raven was drenched. But she didn't mind, she liked the rain and now her anger had simmered slightly, almost like the pouring rain had washed away the negative emotions. She kept walking; head down so the pounding rain didn't hit her eyes. She was unsure on where her destination was, she hadn't had that in mind, she was just…Wandering

"Hey Raven!" A masculine voice broke her peaceful bubble, whipping around; she came face to face with the man who had caused her to be out in the down pour.

"Natsu, what do you want" Raven asked, a slightly hard edge to her tone. Squinting through the rain so she could see him better.

"Well its cold, and raining, and I saw you leave the guild and-and you might catch a cold!" He finished a huge grin on his face as he removed his muffler from his neck and held it out to her. Raven stared at him, frozen in shock; it was the first time she'd ever seen him take off his precious scarf that Igneel had left him with, she reached out and took the muffler carefully, wrapping it around her neck.

"Well thanks for your concern but I'm fine, really" Raven assured him, but he didn't look convinced.

"Well at least let me walk you home" He stepped forwards and took her hand in his, surprisingly soft and warm, hand. She looked down at their, now joined, hands and sighed.

"Fine, I could do with a nice sleep anyway, as much as I love you guys…You give me an amazingly bad headache sometimes" She grumbled and lead the way towards her apartment.

When they arrived outside Ravens apartment, she had mumbled an awkward goodbye to Natsu and then opened her door. _'I need a shower' _she thought as she made her way to the bathroom. Quickly stripping and turning on the water, making sure that it was hot, then got in and let the jets hit her skin and relax her muscles. There was a sudden pain in her stomach but she ignored it, the water ran cold and she cursed under her breath as she turned the water off and got out. Drying and changing into a baggy shirt and shorts, she left the bathroom shivering. She climbed into bed, and pulled the duvet tightly around herself, trying to warm herself up.

Natsu kicked open the guild doors the next morning, Happy flying in behind him and going straight over to Carla. Natsu looked around for Raven but she wasn't there, so, instead his eyes sought out Lucy. She was sitting on her usual stool at the bar, drinking a milkshake that he quickly smelt was strawberry.

"Hey Luce!" He laughed, running up behind her and flinging his arm around her. She coughed, chocking on her drink, and then turned to yell at him for almost causing her_ death…._

"Hey Natsu, you don't happen to know where Raven is do you?" Lucy asked, looking around him to see if she'd come in after him. Natsu only shrugged and then ran off to fight Gray.

"Maybe we should go check on her? It's not like her to come to the guild past 10..." Erza mussed, sitting down next to her.

"She's fine, leave her be. But if she doesn't come in tomorrow I would then suggest to go see her" Mira pointed out, reaching under the bar, bringing up a glass and starting to clean it.

"I suppose…I'm gonna go see if there're any good jobs for the taking" Erza nodded to Lucy then walked away to the request board. Lucy slumped forwards, and ignoring Mira's concern, closed her eyes and let the comforting sounds of the guild guide her to a peaceful sleep.

Raven lay under her duvet, arms wrapped around her legs, drawing them up to her chest. _'Damn it, I should have listened to Natsu…' _she thought, although it was odd, she'd never become ill from being out in the rain. If it wasn't caused by the rain, then what was it that had caused her to become this ill so fast? She gritted her teeth as another wave of pain shot through her stomach, it took all her will not to reach right then. She suddenly saw a shadow cast across the floor, a figure was perched on the window seal, it wasn't someone she knew, their sent wasn't from anyone in Fairy Tail. Raven was about to jump up and make this fucker regret climbing through her window, when a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and the figure let out a 'Shhh…_'_

Lucy was walking to the guild the next morning with Natsu; as usual, he'd climbed through her window and slept the night in bed with her. She looked over at him; he had his hands on the back of his head, elbows jutting out, as he walked contently beside her. Lucy sighed and couldn't help but think about Raven, she hadn't seen her yesterday and was hoping that Raven would be at the guild when they arrived.

When Lucy pushed open the doors to the guild, she saw it was already fairly busy; they were later than usual seen as Natsu had begged to be fed. She quickly scanned the hall, but couldn't spot the familiar black haired girl. Lucy made her way over to the bar and sat down calling over Mira.

"You haven't seen Raven have you?" Lucy asked, already knowing the answer. Mira shook her head and then waved over Erza and Gray, the said mages came over. Gray, already in his boxers, left Natsu to try and persuade Gajeel to fight him.

"So we're gonna go see if Rays alright?" Gray asked, hurriedly pulling on a spare pair of jeans Mira had thrown at him.

"Yep" Erza nodded and led the way out the guild. Only to be stopped as Natsu ran up to block their path.

"Where are you lot going? Are you going on a job? Why didn't you invite me!?" Natsu looked around at them, hurt flicking in his wide eyes.

"We _were _going to go check up on Raven" Gray grumbled and crossed his arms over his bare chest. Natsu's eyes lit up and he nodded his head rapidly, Erza sighed and waved her hand to motion them onwards. Natsu fell in step beside Lucy as they made their way down the street to Ravens apartment.

The group of four stopped outside Ravens apartment door, Erza put out an arm to stop them and she gently knocked on the door…No reply. Natsu was just about to lose his patients, when Gray's hands started to glow blue. He smirked and held up an ice replica of the key for the door. Natsu grinned and snatched the key out of Gray's hands, shoved it into the lock and twisted it. The lock clicked and the door swung open, the living room was empty and so was the kitchen. Erza walked up to her bedroom door, and without knocking this time, opened it and gaped at the sight that met her eyes. Natsu, sensing Erza stiffen, was by her side at once and his blood started to boil as he saw Raven in the arms of a man on her bed. The man looked up sharply at the four people that stood in the doorway gawking at them. He let out a low hiss that in turn caused Raven to groan, as if in pain, and press closer to the man's side.  
"Rogue!" Natsu growled, fighting the urge to lunge at the man and rip him away from Raven.

"Shut up! Can't you see she's sleeping; I only just managed to get her to calm down and go to sleep. Now you lot have come barging in" He said in a low hiss. Erza was first to regain herself.

"What do you mean 'calm down'?" She asked in a hushed whisper.

"She's really ill…" He looked down, worry etched on his features, and he tightened his arms around her before continuing "She was really cold, and I could smell her sickness as I was passing by. I climbed in through the window and just about stopped her from going into a full scale panic attack. She let me sit on the bed with her, and quickly fell asleep on me" He bit his lip, the usual uncaring Rogue was showing _compassion _to Raven.

"Ifs she's cold, I'll warm her up!" Natsu growled, letting small flames brake out on his skin.

"Natsu, look at her, her body's to hot, so it's trying to cool down but because she's so hot its making her feel just as cold" Erza punched his gut, then grabbed his head, forcing him to look closer at Ravens sleeping form. Her cheeks where flushed red, the rest of the showing skin and lips where pale, and there where dark shadows under her eyes. Her breathing was uneven and shallow; she looked a lot skinner than she had been before. He breathed in deeply and realised Rogue was right, the horrible reek of sickness was rolling off her in waves, with his enhanced senses he could easily pick it up. He also noticed the heat that was rising up from her body; it could easily match one of his weaker flames.

"B-But how she was fine two days ago" Natsu moved his hand to cover his mouth, feeling his stomach roll at the stench that was filling the room, how could Rogue stand to be next to her like that?

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital, or bring her to our guild?" Lucy whispered, clinging onto Gray's arm as she took in the state of her friend, the powerful shadow dragon was now laying curled up in someone else's arms, looking so weak.

"I tried to move her, but she thrashed about too much and I was worried about hurting her even more. And she kinda…. Vomited when I moved her too roughly, trying to pick her up" He let out a small, half-hearted, chuckle then fell silent again.

"Well get Wendy to come see her" Erza blinked a few times, ridding her eyes from gathering tears. "Lucy, Gray, Natsu come on!" She instructed and headed for the door. Gray obeyed, pulling Lucy along with him.

"Natsu!" Erza called, her temper rising.

"I want to stay" He muttered, turning to a couch that was in a corner of the bedroom, and plopped himself down on it. Folding his arms across his chest stubbornly.

"Fine, but _please _don't brake anything or wake Raven" Erza summoned a sword and pointed it at him, Natsu nodded once, a determined scowl set on his face. Sighing, Erza smiled briefly at Rogue, then left with Gray and Lucy following close behind.

_**Heh what do you think? Im suffering from a really bad cold at the moment and thought I could somehow add an illness into it… Im so mean to Raven xD oh well she gets cuddle time with Rogue hehe.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Gonna change it slightly, gonna try 1**__**st**__** person. I don't know how it will turn out, but meh yolo ^.^**_

**Rogues POV**

Tension picked in the air surrounding the three slayers, one of which was asleep.

"Why'd you stay? There's nothing you can do here" I muttered while rubbing small, comforting, circles on Ravens back. Natsu didn't reply, only glared on at nothing of much interest. Suddenly Raven stirred next to me, I glanced down watching as she lifted her head up weakly. She looked confused for a moment, before her red rimmed eyes took in the surroundings and her two visitors.

"H-Hey Natsu…" She mumbled, Natsu forced a smile back at her, I saw her struggle to try and sit up, unconsciously I carefully helped her into a sitting position.

"Hey no fence but you really stink Ray" Natsu chuckled lightly and held his nose, then with the other hand, waved it in front of his face. Raven glowered at him and then wiggled herself to the edge of the bed. She pushed herself up, but her knees buckled almost at once, acting purely out of instincts, I launched forwards and wrapped my arms around her thin waist, pulling her back onto my lap, and laughed inwardly about the fact I'd done that before Natsu had even realised she was falling.

"Thanks…" Raven muttered softly, I could tell she was doubting herself, probably feeling pathetic that she couldn't even stand. "Um Rogue?" I looked down at her flushed, tired looking face and felt pity swelled inside me, I'd never felt so protective over someone before, this was all new to me.

"Yeh?" i just managed to get out, my trough was going dry as I took in her sorry state.

"Could-Could you um- help m-me?" She lifted her arms above her head as far as she could without straining herself. With a quick nod of understanding, I scooped her up, carrying her bridle style into the bathroom. Looking over to Natsu I jerked my head, towards the door, ordering Natsu to open it which he did and followed us in. I placed Raven down on the toilet _'Not the best place to sit, but it was that or the floor';_ I made sure she was steady before letting her go completely.

"You run the bath, and I'll go find her a change of clothes" I pointed at the taps, Natsu gritted his teeth but did it anyway… for Raven. I left the bathroom and headed over to a dresser that shoved up to one side. A light blush was rising up my face, at the thought of going through her draws and not knowing what lay waiting to surprise me.

When I re-entered the bathroom, the bath had been run and Natsu was standing next to Raven as if waiting for something an annoyed expression prominent on his face. Placing the clean clothes on the floor, lucky there hadn't been anything…_scary _hidden in them, _'Sure I heard rumours about the kind of stuff Lucy supposedly harboured, but I knew Rave wasn't like that…'_. It suddenly dawned on me what the problem was, turning to Natsu I yelled "Dude get the fuck out!" Natsu growled deeply in reply, but with a pleading look from Raven, dropped it and went to sit back on the couch.

"Um are you ok…uh sorting yourself out?" I asked awkwardly, Raven nodded and I left the bathroom. "I'll leave the door open slightly, shout if something happens. And don't worry I won't let pinky peak" I called out behind him then went to go sit back on the bed, a smirk playing on my lips.

It wasn't long before I heard a muffled squeak and had reached the door in a split second (Sending Natsu flying when he almost beat me ^^) and pressed my forehead to the door.

"Raven! Are you ok?" I called, there was a low pained groan, and taking it as a no, pushed open the door. Raven was lying on the floor, top and jeans off but still had her underwear on _'Thank god…'_.

"What happened?" I asked her gently, putting both hands on her shoulders and pulled her upright; she reached out and pressed herself against me.

"Sorry, sorry" She mumbled, tears welling up as she buried her head into my chest, soaking my shirt. Confusion clouded my mind for a moment then I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, ignoring the bitter stench that clung to her, and then pulled her onto my lap, I'd never been very good with comforting, but right now she just needed a hug.

"What are you sorry for?" I murmured, putting my hands on her, heated cheeks and moving her head up so she was looking into my eyes.

"I-I just feel so weak, I can't do anything myself" She wailed, and then dropped her head as a fit of coughing raked through her chest. I panicked, feeling helpless as I watched as each cough jolted her body, and sounded worse each time. Finally she stopped, her breathing raspy and sounded painful, and fell limp in my arms on the bathroom floor. I smiled lightly at the fact she'd still managed to fall asleep, but slightly worried by the fact it hadn't seemed like she'd had a choice in the matter. Brushing away my worries, I scooped her up and walked into her bedroom. I stopped seeing a young girl with long dark blue hair look up at me through wide, frightened eyes. I couldn't tell if it was from fear of her friend, or that a stranger had just carried her from the bathroom and she was in only her underwear. I nodded to the girl, realising that it must have been Wendy, and laid Raven down gently on her bed. I quickly pulled the covers over then slipped onto the bed, above the blankets, and pulled her shivering body against mine. Natsu snorted from the corner, he'd recovered from being knocked out and was back sitting in the couch again, I sent a glare in his direction.

"Um excuse me" A little voice rose up, my attention snapped back to the little girl, she flinched away from my hard stare. "I- I need you to remove your arm so I can examine Ravens condition" She demanded bravely and stepped towards the bed. Nodding my head, I removed my arm and moved away from her. Raven shivered violently and reached out, trying to find the warmth again. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder, and then leaned down so my mouth was next to her ear.

"It's ok, I'll be back" I whispered then stood up, giving Wendy full access to Ravens shivering form. Wendy glanced at him gratefully, then stretched her arms out so her hands where hovering above her. A small green magic circle formed where her hands were, then she moved them along Ravens body, assessing her. When she was finished Wendy stepped back and looked at both Natsu then Rogue.

"It's really strange, she's got all the signs of a cold, but when I checked her over it was more than that…" The little girl looked down, biting her lip.

"Well what more is it?" Natsu demanded as I slipped back onto the bed, pulling Ravens body back next to mine. I looked down at her worriedly, fearing Wendy's answer.

"That's the problem, I don't know what! But I can tell you this, we need to find out what it is quickly because Ravens is slowly dying"

_**Well, what did you think? This was my first try at 1**__**st**__** person! Did you like it or dislike?**_

_**Anyways, LATERZ!**_


End file.
